I have been asked numerous time to make jewelry pieces made of Marcasite. Recently, I have located small pieces from Calif, but,they are in nugget forms. I need to know who to break the nuggets down to a powder to show the sparkle crystals that I see in so many Marcasite jewelry pieces.
Bear in mind that most "marcasite" jewellery is actually pyrite
(and, in fact, some of it is merely cut steel). Marcasite and
pyrite are two extremely similar minerals. They can both be cut and
polished like any other gemstone.
In the rough, they occur in a wide range of forms: I suspect that
when you say ‘nuggets’ you are referring to something which is
frequently known as a ‘sand dollar’. These have a fibrous texture,
and they tend not to sparkle very much (although the Aztecs polished
flat faces on one side of them and used them as pocket mirrors,
because of their silvery, metallic lustre). You would probably have
more success with the crystalline forms (“fool’s gold”). I believe
that you can also get drusy forms, which might be what you refer to
when you say “sparkle crystals”. But bear in mind that people are
can now coat drusy minerals with metallic surface coatings, which can
make them golden or iridescent - is this what you are referring to?
-Michael.